An engrossing film noir with Mickey Rooney, Peter Lorre, and Jeanne Cagney. Needing money for a date, Rooney borrows $20 from the cash register, starting a chain of events that includes car theft, burglary, and possibly murder. Read more at the IMDB. (The video is interlaced in both the MPEG2 file and the Cinepack. If viewing with VLC, deinterlace with menu-path Video/Deinterlace/Blend.)

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This movie is part of the collection: Film Noir

Director: Irving Pichel
Production Company: Samuel H. Stiefel Productions
Audio/Visual: sound, black and white
Keywords: suspense; noir; crime; Mickey Rooney; Peter Lorre

Creative Commons license: Public Domain Mark 1.0

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Reviewer: moltke - - June 1, 2012
Subject: Hidden Gem

Highly enjoyable film, that ends well and provides an almost lesson to anyone who seeks the fast way out of troubled circumstances. Some stretches involved, but still very worth watching. Glad I found this.

Reviewer: Essayist - - November 28, 2011
Subject: Well worth watching
This is a thoroughly enjoyable film with a good story, well acted by Mickey Rooney but a little disappointing for Peter Lorre who doesn't really shine. They all seem a little naive by today's standards but even so its well worth watching. I did wonder as the film was playing if it had been filmed in the Santa Monica area and sure enough much to my delight, the end scenes are on Santa Monica Pier. As I'd visited Santa Monica last year from England, I then spent several minutes seeing if I could recognise any of the parts of the Pier, and sure enough I could.

Reviewer: Tim Crow - - October 1, 2011
Subject: OMG Jimmy Dodd!
I kept thinking that one friend of Mickey Roony looked like Jimmy Dodd (the adult leader of the original Mickey Mouse Club).
I checked the credits and I was right!

Reviewer: black flag nc - - July 20, 2011
Subject: Pretty good flick
I don't know much about Andy Rooney, but I think he was very good in this one. The main reason I wanted to watch the flick was for Peter Lorre and I was disapointed in how little we see him. The story is well developed and the acting is solid making this one a good movie if you are in the mood for some classic crime drama.

Reviewer: rclo - - June 15, 2011
Subject: If you don't have it, don't spend it - addendum
Great lesson in staying within one's means. Not every $20 debt leads to murder, but the principle is undeniable: don't spend what you don't have.

Mickey Rooney is terrific, and his real-life taste for high-maintenance women must have made this role a natural.

Addendum:
It's usually never too late to reassess your situation. Stop and take a breath before you charge down the path you're on; you might find a better way.

Reviewer: JesusBuddy - - May 23, 2011
Subject: Good lesson
Life can be tough, but it will be interesting when you call on JESUS CHRIST to live the life through you. In that instant, what may seem as disappointments in your walk and work in this world will turn out at last for your great good and success, and you will find yourself thanking and praising God always.

Reviewer: abeermmmn - - May 13, 2011
Subject: bb
good

Reviewer: NightRelic - - February 26, 2011
Subject: Good flick
The blooper is more like 5 minutes from the end at about 1:13:50.

Not sure why Rooney was after the bad girl. It was pretty obvious right from the start the girl who he broke up with was a better choice. But then again, she was staking him. Interesting how when he started out, he just needed $20 to go on a date. Each time he tries to correct his mistakes, they just escalate.

Reviewer: keygrip - - August 15, 2009
Subject: Not Bad
An interesting B Movie.
Rooney's career was on the slide by then,but nontheless he gives a good performance as a guy caught in a downward spiral of crimes.
Lorre's career was also in trouble by then but he still exudes menace and he was under-used in the film.
A good effort

Reviewer: polistra - - March 19, 2009
Subject: Great!
Plenty of suspense, plenty of humanity.
There's one subtle blooper 4 minutes from the
end. The lawyer's car is a 1950 or so Packard, but when he tunes in the radio, we see the dashboard of a 1948 Dodge. And he's turning the map light, not the radio tuning knob.

Reviewer: DJ Psychomike - - March 6, 2009
Subject: Mickey Rooney on the dark side
Rooney makes this film interesting to watch, from his slip into crime to his fall further in. Worth a watch.